1984-01-01

Articulated Vehicle Stability-The Role Of Vehicle Design 845055

Heavy vehicles with high centres of gravity are prone to rollover accidents. For a given height and width, stability is affected by suspension design. In articulated vehicles, the matching of the tractor and trailer suspensions, as well as the degree of coupling between tractor and trailer, affects the stability of the combination. A number of loaded articulated combinations with high centres of gravity were tested on a specially-constructed tilt deck. Parameters including lateral load transfer at each axle group, deflections of the sprung and unsprung parts of the suspensions, movement at the fifth wheel coupling and torsional deflection of the chassis were measured up to the point of first wheel lift. A computer model of the rollover process was also developed. The effects of suspensions, couplings, tyres and chassis on the rollover limit are discussed. Suspensions have the greatest effect, causing the lateral acceleration at rollover to vary from .36 g to .45 g among the range of vehicles tested. Proposals for a standard test of stability are discussed.

SAE MOBILUS

Subscribers can view annotate, and download all of SAE's content. Learn More »

Access SAE MOBILUS »

Members save up to 16% off list price.
Login to see discount.
Special Offer: Download multiple Technical Papers each year? TechSelect is a cost-effective subscription option to select and download 12-100 full-text Technical Papers per year. Find more information here.
We also recommend:
TECHNICAL PAPER

Rollover of Articulated Vehicles

852185

View Details

TECHNICAL PAPER

Multiple Steered Axles for Reducing the Rollover Risks of Heavy Articulated Trucks

881866

View Details

TECHNICAL PAPER

A Computer-Based Study of the Yaw/Roll Stability of Heavy Trucks Characterized by High Centers of Gravity

821260

View Details

X